Elaine Jones, Chairperson
Present. Elaine & Bill Jones, Bob Knight, Alan Olson, Maggie Abbott-Fowler, Lou Hammann, Clodius & Maxine Willis, Will Lane, Virginia Ciliotta, Wendy Mizenko, Candace Rule, Jeanne Duffy, Pearl Hoffman
Welcome & Upcoming Events.
Minutes from July Issues and Actions Committee Meeting were disseminated on the website because they couldn't be printed due to computer problems.
Treasurer's Report.
Clodius Willis gave the report as of 8/18/2008 showing a balance of $1,929.69 in the DFA account. The balance included $668 in donations from the August newsletter drive, which were much appreciated.
Arlen Specter Town Meeting.
Elaine announced the meeting would be held on August 25th at the Adams County Court House from 2:40-4:10 p.m. Discussion ensued as to which DFA priority issues might be brought up at the meeting. The question of the Federal debt was mentioned as an item that should be brought up.
Candidate Forum Coverage.
Elaine noted that John Messeder, the Gettysburg Times reporter, contributed a post-event write-up in the paper. He also published a front page article resulting from his follow-up interview with Phil Avillo and Todd Platts concerning the position of each candidate on the President's abuse of power issue.
August 28 Obama Watch Party.
It was announced that the Adams County Young Democrats organization, headed by Kate Plakas, will co-host (with the Obama campaign) a convention watch party at the Hilton Garden Inn starting at around 8 p.m. All Democrats are invited.
September 18 Single Payer Health Care Conference.
A conference to explain and promote the universal health care plan being proposed for Pennsylvania will be held in the Science Building at Franklin & Marshall College from 7-9 p.m. Jeanne Duffy is preparing a press release to announce it. Wendy Mizenko will coordinate rides (Wendy and Pat Hammann will accept phone requests for those interested in car pooling). Anyone who is willing to drive should call Wendy at (717) 633-6136 and tell her how many you can transport. The health care task force is studying the legality of privately raising the $100,000 needed to do the feasibility study which would have to be done before the plan could be voted upon. So far, legislators are saying there is no money for a feasibility study.
Review of August 6 Candidate Forum.
(See above comments about news coverage.) Bob Knight will write a press release announcing DFA's endorsements.
Steering Committee Needs and Future Program Planning.
The Steering Committee used to meet at Elaine's house until it was folded into an Issues & Actions meeting to involve more of our membership. Elaine said that while we have attracted some new people to these meetings, we have lost some of the planning that was previously done by the Steering Committee. This has left us in a situation where Elaine feels that no one is responsible for the program planning, and she often has to "pull a rabbit out of a hat" to make sure that we have something each month. Should we go back to having a Steering Committee meeting at someone's home?
When Elaine hosted those meetings she was primarily responsible for the refreshments, the agenda, the pre- and post-planning, etc. The Vice Chair used to be responsible for programs, and Will Lane tried to present ideas for several months at a time that he said often got disassembled at the Steering Committee and this was frustrating. The consensus was that one person can't do all this by him/herself, but it was agreed that the Steering Committee has the major responsibility for all operations of our DFA.
It was suggested that we go back to having monthly Steering Committee meetings that are open to all members, but that we not commit to having educational programs at every Meetup. Others were reluctant to do this because they felt that DFA's history has been program driven, and we should continue in this vein. Elaine suggested that we continue to promote the Meetup on the first Wednesday of the month, though some of the meetings will be more for the members than for the public. It was suggested that some Meetups could consist of inside discussion "an open mike format" raising questions such as "Where do we go from here?" Perhaps four meetings a year could be like this, with the remaining eight meetings being devoted to a program with invited guest speakers.
The Steering Committee should still meet on the third Wednesday but the meetings should be held at the home of a different Committee member's home each time (alternating alphabetically) and the whole group should do the planning. Perhaps Wendy, as Vice Chair, could prepare the agenda. The chairperson would preside at both the Steering Committee meetings and the monthly Meetups. Wendy suggested that if not everyone wished to use their home, meetings could be held in the Coffee Shop of Valentine Hall.
The consensus was:
The chairperson will preside at all the meetings.
The vice chairperson will prepare the agenda for the Steering Committee.
Members of the Steering Committee will rotate hosting the meeting either at his/her home, at Valentine Hall, or at some centrally located place. Turns will be established alphabetically by last name.
It will be called Action/Steering Committee meeting but others are invited to attend and provide input.
Update on September Meetup - Common Cause Speaker.
Elaine reported that Sarah Dufendach, the staff person in charge of the "Recapture the Flag" campaign will be on vacation on the Meetup date. It is possible that their International Director might be able to come but this must be confirmed. It was suggested that we have a panel made up of some of our committee members and perhaps some college professors to discuss the Abuse of Power issue as a backup program.
Planning for October Meetup - Iraq, Iran, Other Issues.
Alan Olson said the Iraq Task Force suggests having a Meetup consisting of DFA members and Task Force members in a directed open mike format on war related issues such as: the cost of the war; the living conditions of Iraqis; problems of returning soldiers; role of contractors; long term effects of depleted uranium plants; role of the media in the buildup of the war and continuing into the present; and what we want the new President to know.
Candace Rule related stories about friends who were in Iraq as contractors or soldiers and the outright waste and deception taking place with regard to construction projects, subcontractors, and the billing of projects, as well as the serious consequences for those who are openly critical of the war.
Pearl Hoffman mentioned some issues that could be included in an Open Mike program, such as the Israeli/Zionists question, and the US involvement in the occupation of Palestinian land.
Discussion returned to the idea of an open mike discussion meeting with each participant speaking for 5 minutes. Suggestion: give Iraq Task Force about an hour to present their speakers. Will Lane said he sees a new mode of programming that can also be creating leaders.
Lou Hammann asked that we use this topic to address two critical issues:
Privatization of the war
Privatization of the entire government (i.e., the Post Office has been privatized)
Amy Goodman, radio co-host of Democracy Now has written about this issue noting that ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) uses a private corporation for enforcement of immigration laws. Lou said this administration has sold the U.S. to corporations! And, the media is distracting us while the country is drowning in problems. We could discuss: "How the media affects each of us." Maggie Abbott suggested this program should be held after the election so the new president knows what we are concerned about.
Elaine mentioned the idea of trying to get ACT TV involved in broadcasting our programs on local TV. Noting that our mission is to educate, inform, make people aware of issues, two questions were raised: What is the format for the October meeting going to be? Who is the audience? Is it just DFA? Or, is it the greater community? Lou, Alan, and Elaine will discuss how to format the October Meetup program.
The next Action/Steering Committee meeting on September 17th will be facilitated by Lou Hammann at the Hundred Fold Farm.
Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 9:08 p.m.
Virginia Ciliotta, Recording Secretary